Your Home And Garden Blog

Factors to consider when buying a Do It Yourself (DIY) sunroom kit

Do you like to watch and feel the serenity and beauty of nature throughout the year? Sunrooms gives you the outdoor experience within the indoor comfort of your home.

Moreover, with modern sunroom enclosures, you no longer have to worry about rain, snow and the scorching heat of the summer sun. With the latest sunroom structures, the glasses of the sunroom can have double panes filled with inert gas to provide enhanced energy efficiency and increased visibility.

Build your own sunroom addition and increase the resale value of your home

Sunroom is an important value added feature to a house in the realty market. Homebuyers love sunrooms, which will allow them to enjoy the outdoors while remaining indoors

If you consider the quality of life aspect of a sunroom, among various home improvement projects, a sunroom is a good investment to upgrade your home and to improve your standard of living.

According to The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), sunrooms can repay more than 70% of their investment through the appreciation in your home value. The Remodeling Magazine, estimates that the resale value of a sunroom can average from 89% - 115% of its original cost

Can I build the sunroom by myself? Are there DIY kits available?

Yes there are DIY kits available for the sunrooms. In fact it is a viable option for a homeowner who has economy in mind.

If you have average handyman skills, you have plenty of options available for a do-it-yourself (DIY) kit from leading manufacturing companies and then install the sunroom by yourself.

When you order, all the necessary components for the sunroom are shipped to your doorsteps. Since these kits are developed for DIY homeowners, assembling and installing them require just above average handyman skills.

Please scroll below to see the additional links for the DIY kit suppliers for sunrooms.

Things to consider if you take the DIY approach to build your Sunroom

Before purchasing the do-it-yourself sunroom kits, please understand that these kits are designed for those sunrooms that are not going to be connected to your Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. If you want your sunroom to be connected to your HVAC system then you should opt for a professional installation.

How to decide the best location for my sunroom?

This depends on the area you live in and what exactly your intended use of your sunroom.

Southern Exposure
A southern exposure allows the most sunlight, which is best if you live in the northern parts of US. This is also the most popular choice if your house’s orientation would allow it. Southern exposure may be a good option if you are planning to use your sunroom as a Solarium to put tropical plants year-round. The south exposure will also generate free passive heat during the colder months.

However, if you live in the south it can also get very hot during the summer months requiring a cooling system.

When we say southern exposure, it is actually the solar south direction. Solar south is slightly different from the compass south. You can contact your local weather service to figure out the solar south direction for your house. If your home’s position does not allow your sunroom to face the perfect solar south, then an orientation within 15 degrees of compass south is a perfectly acceptable compromise.

Northern Exposure
A northern exposure will allow lower level and be partially shaded most of the day. If you live in a colder climate then a heating system may be required. But if you live in the south, this is good for the hot season.

Gable Sunroom

Eastern Exposure
An eastern exposure provides just enough sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. This is perfect for a morning breakfast room or as a morning exercise room. With eastern exposure, you can build a beautiful breakfast room to enjoy the morning sunlight. Most ferns and partial shade plants will thrive while being shaded during the warmest part of the day.

Western Exposure
A western exposure will provide plenty of afternoon sunshine. Sometimes you may even require some movable shading to control the amount of light coming in. This location is best as an evening tea-room or an ideal place to watch the sunset.

How to finalize the design for my DIY sunroom?

Your ideal starting point would be the sunroom catalogues (internet or paper) provided by the DIY kit companies. You can search online or you can order sunroom catalogues from manufacturers. There are a wide variety of designs available when it comes to sunrooms, so it’s important that you explore various design options before deciding to buy a particular design. When you review the catalogues, note down the features that are most important to you and then include those features in your design.

You should also keep the purpose of the room in mind while you’re designing it. Pick the design and features according to the intended use of your sunroom.

Remember that a lean-to sunroom with a slanted front is the easiest design to build a sunroom by your self.

Other considerations

A DIY sunroom may not be the most energy efficient structure. That means you will require balancing the energy inefficiency by maximizing the thermal mass of the sunroom. This way your sunroom will absorb more heat during the day and release it slowly during the night. To achieve increased thermal mass you may want to use brick, stone or concrete as your sunroom floor.

Suppliers of DIY kits for sunrooms

http://www.roomkits.com/sunrooms.html
http://www.kkits.com/
http://www.sunroomskit.com/
http://www.screen-house.com/do_it_yourself_sun_rooms.htm
http://www.sunroomkitsdirect.com/
http://www.sunroomkitsdiy.com/index.html
http://www.diy-sunrooms.com/

No related posts.